Musharraf aide slams Bhutto probe by U.N.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, April 16 (UPI) -- An aide to former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf called a U.N. report on the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto a ''pack of lies.''

The report implicates the government of Musharraf, claiming Pakistani officials at the time "failed profoundly" to protect her.

The report on the Dec. 27, 2007, death of Bhutto in Pakistan's garrison city of Rawalpindi also dismissed the subsequent investigation into her death as prejudiced.

"The commission believes that the failures of the police and other officials to react effectively to Ms. Bhutto's assassination were, in most cases, deliberate," the report said.

Rashid Qureshi, a Musharraf aide, insisted the U.N. report was based on rumors and that Musharraf was in no way responsible, Dawn.com reports.

''This chief U.N. investigator was not the relative of Sherlock Homes,'' Qureshi was quoted as saying by Dawn.com, adding that Bhutto had decided to attend the rally despite warnings from Pakistani security experts.

''It was Benazir Bhutto who exposed herself to the attacker,'' he said.